Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Shutting Down L.A.; Baby Jenny from Haiti; Outlining Rescue Operations From Within the Mine; VA Funding to Marines in Need Due to Bureaucratic Snafu; Ex-Firefighters Create Life-Saving Charity; Press Conference From West Virginia on Mine Rescue Operations, Strategies
Aired April 07, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So, are you ready to pay 45 bucks for the privilege of stuffing your bag in the overhead compartment. Give me some input, would you? CNN.com/Kyra and I'll share some of your comments in the next hour.
OK. Checking our top stories right now. President Obama working on better relations with Russia. He's actually leaving for the Czech Republic tonight. That's where he'll sign a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. The deal cuts both countries nuclear arsenals, but does not prohibit the U.S. from building a missile defense system in Europe. The president is also expected to press his Russian counterpart on sanctions against Iran.
Iran is lashing out at President Obama and his newly announced limits on launching nuclear weapons, too. The President vowed to not use nuke against countries that don't have nuclear weapons. But here's the catch. The pledge doesn't include Iran or North Korea because of their renegade programs defying international will.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on a rant against President Obama, calling him a cowboy and saying, "he can't do a damn thing."
A strong earthquake shook Northern Indonesia this morning, also triggering at least two tsunamis. Several people injured but there's no word on deaths at this point. People started to flee to higher ground as soon as that quake hits.
Holding out hope for a slim chance of survival right now. The rescue efforts intensify for four miners unaccounted for after Monday's deadly blast at a West Virginia coal mine. Rescue crews are making progress while families for the 25 killed are making final arrangements. Here's what we know as we bring you up to date.
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin is now telling rescuers that they have made a breakthrough that completed one of the four bore holes or the bore holes in the area where the miners are believed to be. Now that hole is an exhaust port of sorts with rescuers using high-pressure fans to try and exchange the gas-filled mine with clean air, but even with that progress, here's the heart wrenching reality.
There's been no response from any of those missing miners as rescuers have been knocking on the pipes hoping that one of those miners would reply. Despite, that West Virginia's governor is keeping the faith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: We still think we're in that 10:00 to 2:00 period where we'll have some real good data to make a decision, and at that we're hoping that we can get the mine and the air safe enough to get our rescue teams back in some time this afternoon. So the time tables are still the same as we thought they would be. The drilling went better on hole number one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get right to "AMERICAN MORNING"'s John Roberts. He's live there in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
So John, you heard the governor and this hope for the 10:00 hour, and they're wanting to make this decision, right? Between 10:00 and 2:00 on what to do next. Why do they think they might be able to figure out something in four hours. I mean, they've been trying to figure out something for 40 hours.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the problem is, Kyra, they haven't had access to the mine for the last 24 hours. You'll remember early on Monday morning when those rescue crews encountered those high levels of methane gas, they had to pull out of the mine and the decision was then made to tap in. It's basically kind of like opening a window on the mine. They drilled those bore holes and put those high-powered ventilators on. And they started to exchange fresh air for the methane gas poisoned air. Very, very toxic, that carbon monoxide, coal dusts and other things that kept the rescuers from going in.
They're monitoring that air now as it is being pumped out of the mine and in the four-hour period between now and 2:00 this afternoon, they'll keep analyzing that air and when they see that the methane levels have gotten down to a safe zone then they'll tell those rescue crews potentially as early as maybe later this afternoon to go back on in and then they figure it will probably take five or six hours for them to make a dent into that remote area of the mine where they believe that those four remaining miners might be and be able to ascertain their fate.
PHILLIPS: Now, you had a chance to talk to the CEO of this mine when nobody had gotten to him yet, and a lot of people have been saying. OK. What is it going take to make to these mines safer? Time and time again critics are saying look, it's been profits over people and mine safety and now you know, you're finding out through your sources about all of these safety violations and that allegedly this mine is one of the worst offender. You know, what's going to be done to take care of these miners?
ROBERTS: Well, if you talk to mine safety and health officials, they say that the way to do this is simply for the mining companies to look at the violations, fix the violations and apply them rather than fighting the violations as has become much more common practice since the Miner Act of 2006 to say, OK, we've got a problem. It's wrong. We're going to put the money in to fix it.
I talked with Don Wooten, who is the chief mine regulator for the state of West Virginia, and he says you know, while Massey does do some good things and they do have a good safety plan, he says there seems to be a breakdown between that safety plan and applying it to the face of the mine which is where they're cutting the coal away from.
So to some degree, it looks like the mining companies are not fully listening to what the regulators are saying. You know, there's also this idea too, Kyra, it's the cost of doing business. Either you face $1 million in fines. How much would it cost you to fix the problem and how much would it cost you if the mine were to be shut down for a week while you're fixing the problem. In many cases, it's just cheaper to either pay the fine for the violation or increasingly with your high-powered attorneys and your deep pocket go to court, tie the Mining Safety and Health Administration and the state administrators up in knots so that they can't do anything while you continue to pull coal out of the ground.
PHILLIPS: Families wonder, you know, what's next for their loved one who goes into that mine and if anybody's respecting their safety. I mean, that's an even bigger question to address.
John Roberts in West Virginia. John, thanks so much.
We're going to stick with us. We're going to bring you the latest developments as soon as they happen out of West Virginia. We're going to try to figure out what's going to happen in this news briefing that's going to take place in about 25 minutes and hopefully we'll get some answers to how rescue crews are going to try to get into that one specific area where they believe those four remaining miners may be.
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. That's the story in Los Angeles this week where the mayor is pushing for a three- day work week for city employees. That's right. Three days. A five- day weekend sounds pretty cool, right? Well, unless you want to go to a library or a city park. They'll be closed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ANTHONY VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: I am asking the CAO to develop a plan to shut down all general-funded city services with the exception of public safety and revenue-generating positions for two days per week beginning the week of April 12th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, apparently public safety is off limits like police and fire departments and Bernard Parks is actually a former police chief there in L.A. and also current city councilman. He's chairman of the budget committee. He joins me now to talk about how the mayor's plan is going to impact those living in Los Angeles right now. Council member Parks, great to see you.
BERNARD PARKS, COUNCIL MEMBER, LOS ANGELES: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Good to see you. How do you feel about the mayor's plan?
PARKS: I think first of all, we just heard about it yesterday and it's going to have to be vetted. He asked for a report back, but the council is going to have the final say as it relates to addressing how we're going to deal with this budget crisis, and I think the important thing to assess is that the small number of employees that this would affect have already given substantial parts of their salary back on furloughs, and I think the issue is going to have to be a broader look at what cuts in service -- I don't think you can continue to keep the police and fire out of this equation, and I think that's what the council is going to have to grapple with.
PHILLIPS: So here's what's interesting. I mean, you were former police chief there in Los Angeles, are you saying that fire and police should get days off as well?
PARKS: Well, I think you're going to have to look at how you manage the budget. Fire and police currently are over 70 percent of the city's budget. You cannot cut $600 million over the next 15 months out of the remaining 30 percent and have any semblance of city government and services to the community. And so I think there's got to be a more balanced approach. I don't think anything can be off the table, and I think that's what I think the council is going to have to address, not only towards the end of this fiscal year, but as we look to next year's budget. I just don't think you can realistically keep going in a direction of anything off the table at this time.
PHILLIPS: Well, and here's what I -- you know, growing up in California, going to school in L.A., living in L.A., working in L.A.. You know, and you know this by being police chief. Here's what makes me a little nervous is if you close down the libraries and you close down the parks, OK? Where are the kids going to go because there are so many programs in both of these facilities. That's what's keeping kids out of trouble.
I mean, that's what's helping with the gang problem and so I'm wondering, are you worried about violence on the rise, crime on the rise if these places are shut down a couple of times a week and then if you cut budgets in police and fire it's like a double whammy.
PARKS: Well, I think you hit it on the head, Kyra. A lot of people clearly understand that parks and libraries and cultural services are as much a part of public safety as a police officer. They also realize that it's important to give real credibility to the importance of civilian employees and how they help police officers and firefighters be effective.
If you do not have mechanics fixing fire trucks and police cars and do not have technicians fixing their radios and their computers, just having a set number of police officers is not really in our interest. What we want to make sure is are they the most effective public safety force that we can put out there and they need civilian employees to do the service that make them effective and I think, again, there's a much broader issue that deals with public safety than just counting police and fire, sworn officers. There's a whole cadre of city services that support public safety.
PHILLIPS: OK. Well, let me ask you about that because we're talking about city services being shut down here and looking at the number of times that the mayor said, hey, let's just raise utility rates but I'm seeing that the council rejected it a number of times. Why not just raise -- I mean, you're in a horrible budget situation. Why not raise utility rates? Doesn't that seem less radical than saying to folks, you know, two days a week, we're shutting down services.
PARKS: First of all, that raise in the utility rates isn't necessarily fund going into the general fund to keep libraries open. They're talking about raising utility rates so that they can have more operational cash to run DWP. The reason that there's this dispute is that DWP was just evaluated by one of the major bond companies.
They have over $1 billion in liquid cash reserves at this time and when you look at the unemployment rate in the city of L.A., you look at the foreclosure rate. You look at the number of homeless people in all of these services and to say to them we're going to raise your utility power bill as much as 20 percent, you are putting a significant burden on small businesses and everyday residents who in many instances cannot afford that.
PHILLIPS: So what would you do? Bottom line, what would you do?
PARKS: Well, first of all, I think as we did yesterday in the council, we requested the mayor to sit down with his appointees on the DWP board and his general manager and to have them move forward on a transfer of monies, somewhat like a franchise fee because the DWP pays no property taxes on a number of other things to put that money into the general fund that they had promised several months ago.
That would ease the tension initially. Now the next step would be that the city continues along the process of the agreed upon layoffs. We've put in place right now, as of today, about 20 plus million dollars in layoffs for next year. The next step is that we're going to have to continue looking at the budget over 100 percent of the budget and not just 30 percent of the budget in order to find the cuts necessary.
So it's a variety of things that need to be done. We have to be sure that we're keeping in mind service levels for the public. Those four million people that pay all of our salaries deserve to have as much service as possible.
PHILLIPS: Got it.
PARKS: And we also have to make sure that we're solvent so that as we move forward and have to borrow money that we're borrowing it at the lowest rate possible. PHILLIPS: Well, we'll definitely follow this and see how it all breaks out. Council member Bernard Parks, always appreciate talking to you. Thanks for your time.
PARKS: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
We're also going to hear more from the mayor later today on his plan for a three-day workweek. He's actually going to talk live here in our network with our Ali Velshi. That's coming up at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time and we'll get his take on his plan.
He's going to climb Mount Everest, but he's not exactly Sir Edmund Hillary. Sir Edmund didn't pack two months worth of homework in his backpack.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano, CNN Severe Weather Center. Just released from the experts at Colorado State University, talking about hurricanes for this coming season, they've got the forecast and we'll show it to you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: No alarm clock needed here when you got all this going on. I-reporter Rob Cozzi awoke to the sound of hail pounding his roof in north Aurora, Illinois. So he got up and shot this video for us right off his backyard patio, by the way. It was definitely really coming down.
MARCIANO: Look at that.
PHILLIPS: Pretty good stuff.
MARCIANO: Accumulation of hail.
PHILLIPS: Good pictures for us, but not REALLY good for his -- well, I don't know. That wouldn't hurt his patio furniture too badly.
MARCIANO: Not the patio furniture.
PHILLIPS: Maybe the car, yes.
MARCIANO: Maybe put some dings in the windshield. Maybe the car, yes. And maybe the roof as well. Second day in a row we've had a decent amount of hail across the central plains and into the Midwest and we'll have the threat again today. This front is slowly moving off to the east, running into some seriously warm air. I don't have to tell you about that if you live east of the Mississippi. It's been drastically warm temperatures, about 20 degrees above average and in some cases record-setting temperatures into the 90s in places like D.C..
New York will be in the mid-80s today. Most cold temperatures behind at 51 degrees in Chicago and places like Chicago and Milwaukee later in the week over the next couple of days, they may see some flakes of snow after seeing record breaking heat.
All right, I want to talk about this. This just released from Colorado State University. The hurricane experts there upping the ante for the forecast this coming hurricane season. Named storms predicted, 15. The average is 11. The hurricanes predicted eight, the average is six. And major hurricanes that are forecast four, that average is two. El Nino expected to wane and warmer temperatures out in the tropical Atlantic here are well above average right now and those are the two main reasons for the expected above-average hurricane season this coming year.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK. See you.
PHILLIPS: Well, here's something that you don't hear every day or maybe ever until now. An Arkansas woman accused of harassment slapped with a lawsuit. The accuser? Her teen son. He claims that mom hacked his Facebook account, changed his password and trashed him online. I guess he's defriended her by now. Denise New says she has every right to keep an eye on her child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENISE NEW, MOTHER: It's crazy to me that we are even having this interview.
I'm going to fight it. If I have to go even higher up, I'm going to. I'm not going to let this rest. I think it could be a precedent moment for parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, her son lives with his grandmother. Denise doesn't have custody, but she claims that she and her son had a great relationship.
And remember the name Jordan Romero. The name might come in handy if you're on a game show or playing trivia. If all goes well he will be the youngest person to summit Mount Everest, you know, the top of the world, Sherpas, bottled oxygen? Talk about peaking at a young age.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORDAN ROMERO, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Yes. I've been looking forward to this for so long and now it's finally happening and man, you can't even imagine the feeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Jordan, his dad and his dad's girlfriend head to Nepal next week. Jordan's taking about two months worth of homework, by the way. He's already climbed six of the world's highest mountains. Well, life came first, the law came second. The Haitian baby girl, a tiny survivor. The earthquake was just the beginning of her family drama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It looks like anti-government protests got way out of control today in the central Asian nation of Kyrgystan. As you can see, it just borders China. China to the east there. At least 17 people killed and some 180 wounded as riot police opened fire on opposition demonstrators marching toward government buildings. Protesters set fire to city's prosecutor's office and looted the state radio and television building. Those demonstrators are angry over government corruption and a recent hike in power prices.
And remember the death threats after the health care vote? Washington senator Patty Murray got them. Now a 64 year old Washington state man is under arrest. He allegedly called in threats to Murray's office and said she had a target on her back. Murray voted for the law. He supposedly bragged to undercover FBI agents that he carried a gun.
Native American trailblazer Wilma Mankiller has died. She has pancreatic cancer. You may remember she was the first woman to lead the Cherokee nation, the second largest tribe in the United States. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in 1998. Wilma Mankiller was 64 years old.
For one Haitian family the earthquake was just the beginning. They feared their baby daughter was dead. Well, now Baby Jenny and her parents are reunited, but there was a lot of drama in between.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story of baby Jenny starts here in this collapsed apartment building in Port-au-Prince. When the earthquake hit, two-month-old Jenny was with her mother Nadine Devilme who was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital.
Every day Nadine told her husband, Junior Alexis to go back to their home and search for Jenny in the rubble and every day for four days Junior came back with the same answer. "I can't find Jenny." The couple started to give up all hope of ever finding their daughter alive until what the parents call a miracle happened.
(on camera): On the fifth day somebody else found her alive and whisked her off to the hospital.
(voice-over): Jenny was brought to the field hospital where I was stationed.
DR. ARTHUR FOURNIER, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI PROJECT MEDISHARE: she's got a depressed skull fracture and she's had broken ribs. COHEN: Doctors said Jenny would die within hours if she didn't get to a real hospital in the United States.
(On camera): I thought the state department wasn't allowing Haitian patients.
FOURNIER: I don't care what the State Department cares about --
COHEN (voice-over): Defying the law, doctors put Jenny on an ambulance to get on a plane to Miami. They assumed she was an orphan and told the driver if you can get to the plane on time, we'll name the baby after you. The driver was Patricia and for months, that's what the baby was called until it was learned that Jenny was her real name.
(on camera): Jenny was let in to the United States and taken straight here to room 16 of the pediatric intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Now, by the time her parents found out she'd been taken here. It was too late. They weren't allowed into the United States. They had no passport, no visa. They didn't even have proof that Jenny was their baby.
(voice-over): For nearly two months Nadine and Junior tried to get Haitian and U.S. authorities to believe them that this was their child. I visited them at their home in a tent city.
(on camera): So you say this is your baby?
NADINE DEVILME, JENNY'S MOTHER (through translator): Yes. Jenny is my daughter.
COHEN: I mean, how does it feel as a mother to know that your baby has just flown off without you to another country?
DEVILME: I have a lot of problems. I can't sleep.
COHEN (voice-over): Meanwhile, back in the United States, lawyers arranged for a DNA test. It took weeks, but final finally approved that Nadine and Junior were truly Jenny's patients. Several more weeks of legal work later, Nadine and Junior were allowed to come to the United States.
(on camera): Today is the day.
(voice-over): At the Port-au-Prince airport, Nadine and Junior thanked the doctor who saved their daughter's life and boarded a plane to Miami to the foster home where the baby has lived for months.
A happy reunion for parents who once thought their daughter was dead in the rubble of Haiti's earthquake.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: I tell you what, Elizabeth, what a story, you know? Now -- you were there from the very beginning which makes it all the more powerful. So all this time that the baby has been in the U.S., who's been taking care of her? Has it just been this foster home?
COHEN: That's right. It has been a foster home. Jenny was considered a refugee when she came here without her parents and as such she's a ward of the federal government and they've taken care of her here at this foster facility behind me. It's called His House. And you know, Kyra, we hear a lot of bad things about foster care, but from all indications and you can see it in that video, this baby has really thrived here. She's really in terrific shape.
PHILLIPS: What's the future for the family?
COHEN: The future for the family is that they've been given permission to stay in this country for one year and that's because you can see in that video that the baby still has injuries here. She has trouble using her left hand. She needs physical therapy so she needs to stay here for medical care and that's what the authorities feel.
Now, they're being cared for by the International Rescue Committee. That committee is going to help them find work and help them get a place to live and if anyone wants to donate money to this family or the families like it, they can do that through CNN's Impact your World, just go to CNN.com/impact.
PHILLIPS: Great story. And what a fabulous reunion. Thanks so much, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: And right now, we are still waiting for that news conference here out of West Virginia. We're expecting the governor possibly to let us know what we've all been waiting to find out, when exactly were those rescue crews be able to go down into that mine and try and find out if those four last remaining miners are alive.
They've been able to drill one hole to try and get fresh air in that mine. They're working on a couple of others, but they sort of gave a period of time when they were going to try and make a decision when they knew rescue crews could actually get into that mine. Hopefully, we're going to hear something soon. We'll bring it to you live as soon as it starts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The rescue effort intensifying for four miners unaccounted for after Monday's deadly blast at a West Virginia coal mine. Rescue crews making progress, but we are still waiting to hear if they can get into that mine. Meanwhile, families for the 25 killed are preparing to bury their loved ones already recovered. We're waiting for a news conference to get underway at any moment. So let's go ahead and recap what we know at this point.
Drillers have broken through with their first vent hole. They actually banged on the pipe, but haven't heard any response from the miners down below. The crews will now begin venting the poisonous gasses from the mine and then three more holes are planned and rescue teams will begin searching the area where the miners are believed to be once given the OK.
Now, earlier this morning West Virginia's governor acknowledged the fading hope saying that everyone's going to cling to hope still and pray for a miracle.
Total helplessness. One of the shared pain, friends and families of the missing miners are feeling as they patiently wait to hear word of their loved one. It's a sentiment that our Gary Tuchman first encountered just a few years back covering the Crandall Canyon in Utah and it's being experience again in West Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three small children who don't understand what happened to their grandfather. And they're not the only ones in the family who don't know what happened with West Virginia coalminer Ricky Workman.
SHERI MAYNOR, RICKY WORKMAN'S GREAT NIECE: We know that he was in the mines and we know that he didn't come out. So, I mean, that's all we know. We don't know if he's one of the ones that's there, that's deceased, or he's one of the ones -- we're praying and we're hoping he's one of the miracles that walks out of there.
TUCHMAN: Ricky Workman has lived in the West Virginia Mountains his whole life. His whole career has been in the mines. His relatives are traumatized and confused.
GLENNA BAILEY, RICKY WORKMAN'S COUSIN: I feel really sad and I cried when I heard about it.
TUCHMAN: But many of his kin are counting on a miracle.
BAILEY: I think that God will -- heaven will get him out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like they say, don't give up hope. Don't give up.
TUCHMAN: A drill is now cutting into the top of the mine. It has to go 1,100 feet, and that process is not expected to be finished until Wednesday. The plan is to pump fresh air into the mine. The hope is to find evidence of survivors and then attempt a rescue.
(on camera): If rescuers make the decision to go into the mine, we can give you an idea of what it might be like. That's because three years ago I was given permission to go into Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine where a collapse trapped six miners.
Here is how I reported it back then.
(voice-over): We entered the Crandall Canyon Mine through the same tunnel the six trapped workers went through; a three-mile journey in a small truck that would take about a half hour in utter darkness. We passed rescue workers in their vehicles on the way to our ultimate destination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there is where the rescue effort is going on.
TUCHMAN: This is as far as we could go. This is where the mine had collapsed. You're looking at the effort to drill into the coal and rock to rescue the six men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the damage is here, we're about 2,000 feet deep.
TUCHMAN: But the process had to stop for almost two days, because of seismic activity that has shaken up the mine and made it too dangerous for rescue workers. The work to get to the miners originally began at a different point of the mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had this cleaned up 310 feet. The machinery's still in there.
TUCHMAN: But another shift in the earth caused another partial collapse, and the cleared area filled with coal again.
(on camera): Frankly, it's very eerie standing here, knowing that 2,000 feet behind me and maybe less are the six trapped miners. It's cold, it's dark, it's foreboding, a claustrophobic could never cut it here. There's a steady wind blowing, the ceilings are low. We're 30 minutes away from the nearest exit.
In normal times, it's very stressful. But right now there's a lot of tension. Nevertheless, the workers here, the rescue workers, the people who normally work in the mine are calm because they have a job to do.
(voice-over): Sadly, the bodies of the six miners were never recovered and tragically, three of the rescuers were killed days after we were in the mine following another collapse.
That was three years ago. Today, Ricky Workman's relatives pray for a vastly different outcome.
JOYCE WHITT, RICKY WORKMAN'S IN-LAW: God will take care of everybody. God will take care of everybody. And he's going to take care of Ricky. He'll take care of Ricky.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest developments out of West Virginia. We continue to wait for that news conference. Possibly the governor stepping up to the mike and telling us when indeed those rescue crews can get into that mine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: President Obama looking on better relations with Russia is leaving for the Czech Republic tonight. That's where he'll sign a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. The deal cuts both country's nuclear arsenals, but does not prohibit the U.S. from building a missile defense system in Europe. The president is also expected to press his Russian counterpart on sanctions against Iran.
Pay for performance, it works in sports, but what about in school? Teachers in Florida protesting a proposed new law. It could hit the governor's desk next week. That plan rewards teachers if their students get good scores on standardized tests, but if students do poorly, pink slips.
This time yesterday, we were talking about a pretty unbelievable law in California, long forgotten yet still on the books. It listed homosexuals as sexual deviants and called on health care experts to search for a cure. We talked to one lawmaker who was working to repeal it and after our show that effort took a big step forward. It was passed out of committee and is now headed toward a final vote. We'll keep you posted.
Giving soldiers a different kind of weapon for a different kind of battle. The Army has opened up a mental health school at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The mission is to teach men and women how to deal with emotional stress before they're sent into a war zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can take the same skills that fight depression, that produce more resilience and better performance in the civilian world and teach them to our soldiers before they're put in harm's way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The Army is hoping this training will help curb suicide rates in the ranks, they've hit a record level.
Bureaucratic bungling at the VA leaves unemployed veterans literally down and just above out on the farm. CNN's Barbara Starr follows up on her previous visit to Archie's Acres and she found things have taken a major turn for the worse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We first visited had hillside near San Diego last year because it was a success story for a group of young Marines recovering from the stress of war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These aren't just people that come out here for training. These are guys that we support each other overseas with.
STARR: We have come back because everything has come crashing down.
CORY POLLARD, MARINE CORPS VETERAN: I did have to pawn my laptop just to try to get some extra money to eat. And, you know, everything's really, really tight for me, and I think for everybody here. STARR: Here at Archie's Acres, farming has helped the former Marines decompress and learn new job skills, but the VA cut off funding saying after three years it discovered the money it was using to pay the vets came from the wrong federal account. That government snafu has led to this --
CARLOS RIVERA, MARINE CORPS VETERAN: Who's stressing? I mean -- I'm really concerned, you know, rent, me, my mood swings, you know? Just -- I'm spending more time by myself away from my wife because I just -- it's hard. Yes. It's hard.
STARR: Former Navy Corpsman Roderick Krause keeps an eye on the younger vets.
RODERICK KRAUSE, MARINE CORPS VETERAN: Like Carlos here with an upcoming young family, in the beginning starting out, you know, it's not a good, solid basis.
STARR: This young Marine veteran who goes just by the name Mike often sleeps under the trees here. He worries about the others.
MIKE, FORMER MARINE CORPS VETERAN: When I see what these guys are going through right now it's just -- it's very, very sad. I mean, because, you know, these guys put their lives on the line for this country.
STARR: The Archie in Archie's Acres is Colin Archipley, a Marine veteran of three tours in Iraq. He bought this farm after he came home, determined to keep helping fellow Marines.
COLIN ARCHIPLEY, OWNER, ARCHIE'S ACRES: When I was leaving, I left with the hopes that I could create some type of unit outside of the military that was as proficient as the unit that I was with in the military.
STARR: So when the VA cut the funds, Colin and his wife paid the men thousands of dollars out of their pocket, all the while talking to the VA about how to get the money being turned back on.
ARCHIPLEY: The problem is that the eight vets that we have in this program are falling victim to the interpretation of statute and it leaves them high and dry until we can patch that up.
STARR: High-level VA officials have come to the farm to try to find a funding solution, but we are told by the Archipley's those visits came after the VA learned CNN was working on the story. Private money has been donated to pay some of the vets' immediate bills.
What we have found on this hilltop, once and former Marines, still Marines helping each other.
Retired Brigadier General David Brahms, an attorney, is here helping with legal advice.
(on camera): I mean, we always hear, you know, once a Marine, always a Marine.
GEN. DAVID BRAHMS (RET.), U.S. MARINE CORPS: Yes, that's why I'm here. That's why sometimes a burden gets heavy and you've got to be here. You can't leave them on the battlefield. That's why we're pulling together. You don't leave wounded on the battlefield.
STARR (voice-over): Barbara Starr, CNN, San Diego.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The Department of Veterans Affairs sent CNN a statement saying it is working with Archie's Acres to resolve the issue and find source of long-term funding for those vets, but the VA also says it believes Archie's should be paying the vets' wages.
Making a pickle barrel a lifesaver? Two ex-firefighters still saving lives and building up America with pocket change.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So in this down economy, fewer fire departments have the budgets for cutting-edge equipment. Two brothers, both ex- firefighters saw that need and found a way to rush in to help. Their world is building up America and saving lives.
CNN's David Mattingly has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It came from out of nowhere. One second, Francisco Tuttle was feeling fine.
FRANCISCO TUTTLE, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: It was a typical day, typical morning; had a busy schedule that day. And --
MATTINGLY (on camera): This is where it happened?
TUTTLE: Right here, exactly.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But in an instant, he was on the floor, unconscious, not breathing, no pulse, the victim of a sudden heart attack.
(voice-over): Francisco Tuttle had no way of knowing at that time that his life was about to depend on an unusual act of philanthropy, the donation of a special piece of equipment that came about in a very unusual set of events.
(on camera): Francisco Tuttle was saved by a pickle bucket?
CHRIS SORENSEN, FOUNDER, FIREHOUSE SUBS: In one way or another.
ROBIN SORENSEN, FOUNDER, FIREHOUSE SUBS: Yes.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Brothers Chris and Robin Sorenson are former firefighters who founded a national chain of sandwich shops called Firehouse Subs. Their connection to Francisco Tuttle and that pickle bucket we were talking about has its roots dating back five years to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
R. SORENSEN: We're giving these people who have lost everything a hot plate of food and half of them were breaking down crying.
MATTINGLY: That happened in Pearlington, Mississippi, virtually wiped out by the storm. The Sorensen brothers drove in food and supplies. Not feeling like that was enough, they decided to give the town a used fire truck they found on eBay.
(on camera): And you just couldn't stop after that?
R. SORENSEN: No, that was just the beginning.
C. SORENSEN: You start to see the big picture and believe me, everybody needs something. There's no department that doesn't need some kind of a gear.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Since 2005, the Sorensen Brothers Foundation has donated more than $2 million worth of equipment in 13 states. A lot of that money comes from selling pickle buckets emptied by their shops.
R. SORENSEN: We sell 5,000 to 10,000 pickle buckets a month. At $2 a-piece, that all goes in the foundation and it keeps them out of landfills too.
C. SORENSEN: Yes, it's great.
MATTINGLY: That money helped pay for this device called the AutoPulse (ph), donated to the Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina Fire Department, which brings us back to Francisco Tuttle.
TUTTLE: I was dead.
MATTINGLY: The precision nonstop compressions of the donated AutoPulse brought Tuttle back from the brink. And today, I'm bringing him to meet the guys who made it possible.
(on camera): Got somebody I would like you to meet. This is Francisco Tuttle.
C. SORENSEN: Francisco.
TUTTLE: What's up, brother.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): This is the first time the Sorensens had ever met someone saved by their acts of charity.
TUTTLE: If it wasn't for your contributions and your donations, I wouldn't be here.
MATTINGLY: Two ex-firemen finding new ways to come to the rescue.
David Mattingly, CNN, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Take you live to West Virginia. Joe Manchin talking about the rescue efforts.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: -- want to thank the Red Cross and all the volunteers.
I've just come from the families and they always tell me things that they want to make sure you all know. The Red Cross and all of the volunteers who are helping them so much, they're so appreciative of that. And they also want to say that they hope that you all would understand the privacy that they're asking for. And right now it's just the families are working together, they've come together and they're working together and the families have bonded, if you will. But they would want to say that they would hope that you would understand and respect the privacy that they're asking for at this time.
So with that, where we are right now, I know from the media we have somebody that you have -- we'll be taking rolls, a b-roll if you will, up on the site, they're up at the drilling site right now. We have told you also that when rescue operations commence again, we'll make sure that you have footage of that.
Where we are, that I've been told is they're going -- they've decided to drill a third hole and the reason for that, the first hole went so fast and so well, if the third hole with the big rig they have there, they can get these three down they could be venting a lot better and pulling more air out and if you will, decantering that area quicker. So they've decided on that, they're working on that.
As we're speaking now they're up there and the fans -- and Kevin will give you and Joe will give you more of an update on where we are on that -- but trying to get those readings. Until we start getting those readings and knowing where we are and what type of air we have down there, we'll determine how quick and what timetable we're on.
Once we do that, then you will have a better idea of when they believe that the air will be safe enough to send the rescue teams in. The rescue teams are prepared. They're charged up and ready to go, and they go at a moment's notice. So we're very thankful for all of this them.
The question was asked before, when this commences, how many people might be involved in this first rescue operation and I've been told maybe up to 30. It could be 30 rescuers going in, but safety will be the word of the day, if you will, and nothing will happen until then.
With that, the families are -- they're still very strong and they're very hopeful and they're very prayerful and they're holding very strongly. Yes?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
MANCHIN: There were two holes in the first one.
QUESTION: Two holes in the first one.
MANCHIN: They decided to put a third hole right beside it because that will give them more ability to extract, if you will, and vent and hopefully be able to get better readings quicker.
QUESTION: That's in addition to others (OFF-MIKE)?
MANCHIN: Yes. Nothing else has changed, and I'll have Joe or Kevin, if they want, they can explain what they're doing, but that decision was made just recently and they have that big rig, the fast rig that drilled the first hole. They decided to put a second one there, too.
QUESTION: How big are the holes?
MANCHIN: I don't know where the second hole is, do you know?
KEVIN STRICKLIN, ADMINISTRATOR, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: The first two holes are immediately next to each other and the third hole would be in the same general area.
MANCHIN: Is the second hole.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
MANCHIN: Is the second hole done?
MANCHIN: No. The second hole is down only about 500 feet so it's about half way down.
QUESTION: About how big are those holes in diameter, would you say?
STRICKLIN: It starts out on the surface as 12 inch and where it goes into the coal seam, it's reduced to six inch.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
QUESTION: Did you start the venting and the reading?
STRICKLIN: No, we did not, ma'am. When the hole went through, the air wanted to intake. So basically -- and that makes sense because we have a fan pulling in another area of the mine. So what we have to do, we had to cap it off and we had to get the high-pressure exhaust fan set up so when we start pulling the air out of the mine is when we'll be able to begin having more readings.
QUESTION: OK. When do you plan to do that? STRICKLIN: As soon as we can. They're trying to get the fan over to where the bore hole is and to get it installed and up and operational.
QUESTION: What about the two miners that (INAUDIBLE)?
MANCHIN: OK. I was asked about the miners. We have both miners are still alive. One is doing extremely well and our other miner is in ICU. The families have been asking for the courtesy and respect that this very private -- and it's a family thing, but I know there are reports on one of the miners that might be a more serious -- ICU is serious, but he's still alive.
QUESTION: Governor, you said 30 people going in as rescuers. How big is the area are they are going in there? Are they going to -- are 30 of them going to fan out in different areas or will they concentrate on one area? Can you explain that process?
MANCHIN: You might want to share, Joe.
Yes, go ahead, Joe.
STRICKLIN: They'll be fanning out. Naturally, we've got two locations that we talked about earlier that people are unaccounted for, three in one area and one in the other. So they'll be fanning out in two different areas and there won't 30 that'll be actually advancing. What we have to have is many people in an out by area in case something would occur to go and rescue the mine rescue teams that are in an in-by area.
So when we talk 30, I mean, just in round numbers, we would expect 15 to be advancing, 15 to be backing up those individuals.
MANCHIN: You want to show, Kevin, where they will go and how they -- when they get up from here on.
STRICKLIN: Our intent is -- naturally, the rescue teams are going to come from the outside in and we would expect one group to focus the area where we have three unaccounted miners as well as go through this rescue chamber, and the other group of rescue teams to go where we think one miner is unaccounted for.
Now naturally, they may not be in the exact location where we wanted, so we may have to fan out a little more to try to find that individual if he is somewhere in the mine. And that -- that, we just kind of play it by ear and basically, you have to shoot from the hip with the information you have available to you at that time.
QUESTION: Joe, how do you know where they are?
STRICKLIN: We don't know exactly where they are, but we can surmise that we have crews of nine people and we've only accounted for six on this section here. So we can assume that three people, that's the best educated guess we can make at this time where they may be.
QUESTION: How big of a problem is it to breathe (INAUDIBLE) things like that?
